


Knowledge (to know, or not to know?)

by sihaya13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 03:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7297906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sihaya13/pseuds/sihaya13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How far will you go for knowledge?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowledge (to know, or not to know?)

How could one ever have enough of books?

Not stories and adventures, of course. Those were for children.

No, what she loved was the thick, dust-coated volumes filled with all sorts of spells and enchantments and history and politics. Useful stuff. Important stuff.

In a corner of the library she would sit, in her secret little alcove, with the sun streaming in through the window and the dust particles dancing for her in its beams. A new book would be opened, and a new population of motes would twirl and spin and fly across the room, seeking the warmth of new companions.

Of course, she never needed new companions. They were far too distracting, detracting from her precious reading time. More than that, they were stupid. Their minds worked in such slow little rotations, the turning cogs almost audible. So irritating.

She struggled with limitations, with separating what some would call good and bad knowledge (but all knowledge is good), but what she called necessary and unnecessary knowledge. There were types of knowledges which, while important, could get you into trouble. She wanted to know everything, but she was aware that there would be few books to read in Azkaban.

Still, the thirst for more was overwhelming. She had been at Hogwarts over six years, it was safe to say that most of the library had been devoured by her touch and by her mind. She had wandered further and further into the Restricted Section, discovering old, old rooms and alcoves which had not been seen by a pair of human eyes for centuries. Or, perhaps the castle only opened these sections at the touch of the right individual, for someone who valued knowledge above all else.

The dark magic was tantalising. The mere thought that no one else could perform these spells, that no one else even had knowledge of the spells, was almost orgasmic for a knowledge-seeker such as her.

Those dusty, dark rooms consumed her life. She stopped going to classes, and she hardly ate. She read, and read, and read some more. Her eyes strained in the candlelight as she read about dark magic so powerful it made making horcruxes look like a healing spell. And what kind of knowledge-seeker would she be if she didn’t confirm what she had learnt?

She was careful at first. She left no clues. The bodies were found, and panic ensued, but no one knew where they came from. They could have closed Hogwarts, but they, too, were blinded by the thirst for knowledge. Instead, they stationed aurors at every door.

It wasn’t until she walked through the halls, tracing patterns in blood along the walls, that they realised it was her. Her father cradled her in his arms, and sobbed as they dragged her off, her red hair dancing and her brown eyes wild.

As she sat her cell, knowledge seeped from her fingertips as she traced the floor in a comforting pattern. Emptiness swirled in her head, and her brain slowed, and slowed, and slowed until she could hear the cogs of her own mind turning, and turning, and turning.

And then she screamed.


End file.
